Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for January 17, 2016

Spicy has a hasty plan for Specs to go freelanceSmells of greed, wise to take heed, a second and third glance.To dream and scheme of treasures gazed upon through magic glassesMay come to naught, Apparatus fraught, retirement it dashes.The Amber Room, should it exist, most certainly was scatteredTo fly solo and search it out a good way to be batteredBy the Apparatus, whose reach ranges far and wideTo slip the noose a silly goose would need a place to hide.Danger dismissed by Spicy who desires stacks of goldMakes a spectacle of Specs to pursue perils so bold.Thus is the seed is planted. Specs will soon be his own bossTo betray the Apparatus is for fools blind to the lossOf life and love and liberty, of tomorrow breathing airTo deceive the Apparatus is to take a deadly dare.How to abscond from Tracytown without raising a flag?‘Tis do or die, succeed or cry, champagne or a toe-tag.

“For those who thought we forgot…”Yep, Mike reads the comments here. Including the complaints during past stories.

.Good morning guys!.Well stated, Pequod.

To Cuba~!!

Aww….is Spicy going to be leaving the strip so soon? She really dresses it up!

…….have a feeling we’re not going to be seeing Cuba in the background in any part of this strip….

Morning, Tracy Fans!

The Apparatus can’t follow us to Cuba – Wanna bet?

I wasn’t complaining—we have the rest of the cast to consider. I wondered how the International Detectives fit in…

What is that 1944 date on his passport? It can’t be his birth date. That would make him 72 years old.

Timely, but recall the pre-revolutionary history of Cuba; you REALLY think the Apparatus doesn’t have a reach there?

Finally, the real name of X-ray Specs. It’s Xavier Ramon “Esterar,” according to Spicy, or “Esparar,” according to the passport. According to Collins dictionary, esterar means “to cover with a mat” or “to put on one’s winter clothes (ahead of time).” Somebody needs to do better proofreading on this strip.

Anyway, it looks like S&S have the beginnings of a plan to go into business for themselves if they can just figure out how to get out of town.

So, who has the spelling of his name wrong? Spicy, or the passport people? I guess if they got the birth-date that far off, the name shouldn’t be a big surprise.

Maybe in the Tracy universe, an accompanying spouse is able to get an automatic visa to visit Cuba. I get the impression that Specs and Spicy are a couple.

Anyway, she’s planning to get new IDs, which I’m sure doesn’t comply with Cuban law, so I’m not sure they’re going to enter the country legally anyway. (In that case, it doesn’t much matter whether Specs has a visa.)

As of December, 2014, the U.S. made it easier for its citizens to visit Cuba for certain purposes, such as visits to close family members, but tourist travel is still prohibited under U.S. law. I’ll have to assume that Spicy is a “family member” of Specs, and is related to his grandmother by marriage and also has a visa already. If not, it could be a bit of a plot hole, but I’m willing to overlook it if that’s the case.

So that must be X-Ray’s maternal grandfather, who had a daughter that married a guy named Specs. Anyone want suggest, in case it’s ever needed, what the father’s first name could be? Reading Specs? David Douglas Daniel (3D) Specs? lol

Tourist travel to Cuba prohibited? Nonsense. My wife and I were tourists there two years ago. And read up on the travel companies. Most have all kinds of tourist trips to Cuba, by air, by ship. American airlines are now free to fly in and out of Cuba.

That’s an epic poem you penned there.

I’m thinking the name got misspelled on the passport at the inking stage. Still should have been caught, though, and maybe the birth date should have been 1974 or even ’84.

It can’t be a coincidence that Specs has a visa to visit his grandmother in Cuba so soon after the appearance of Wunbrow. Fat snowflakes outside say, “Go south, young criminals.” Much to like about the art, as always. The penultimate panel stands out, with the silhouettes bringing out the eyes. Squeeze a hot tomato and tell her to catch up. Clearly, the bank robbery by the Apparatus is not the bird Team Tracy wishes to catch in its net. The potential for a trip to Cuba is promising. Team Tracy makes excellent use of a wide variety of locations. No need to stay cooped up in the office. Wunbrow and Tracy have helped each other before. Will they avoid Granite Island?

Thanks to Night-Gaunt49, Vista Bill, JPuzzleWhiz (welcome back!) and Jonathan K. for the kind words. Very much appreciated.

Spicy needs to think this through a little better. She seems to believe that they would be somehow safe from the Apparatus in Cuba, when Specs raises the objection that there would be no place to hide from them. Even if that were true, they couldn’t stay in Cuban sanctuary, because Specs would need to be “on site” for any X-Ray job he would hire out to do. And the minute they left Cuba to do a job, they would be right back where they started from – on the Apparatus’ radar and vulnerable.

Hello!!!

Strange advice. “You’re the fifth person this week who claimed their birthday was 99726588, I had no idea so many people read Dick Tracy!”

He wants to risk jail in Cuba?!

If he’s actually smuggling Spicy in, he could be in jail there for some time. The U.S. embassy in Cuba says, “Immigration violators are subject to prison terms ranging from four years for illegal entry or exit to as many as 30 years for aggravated cases of alien smuggling.” I doubt that Cuban prisons are pleasant places to be, so he’d better be careful. Crooks are often not well-regarded for their intelligence.

Neil Wick implied,…so she might pop up again this summer when Abner will apparently be featured (for the last time?).-——————————————————————————————-.I hope Abner will be around for a long time. I’d miss that bag o’ bones! He’s a cool ghoul!

Spicy has a hasty plan for Specs to go freelance

Smells of greed, wise to take heed, a second and third glance.

To dream and scheme of treasures gazed upon through magic glasses

May come to naught, Apparatus fraught, retirement it dashes.

The Amber Room, should it exist, most certainly was scattered

To fly solo and search it out a good way to be battered

By the Apparatus, whose reach ranges far and wide

To slip the noose a silly goose would need a place to hide.

Danger dismissed by Spicy who desires stacks of gold

Makes a spectacle of Specs to pursue perils so bold.

Thus is the seed is planted. Specs will soon be his own boss

To betray the Apparatus is for fools blind to the loss

Of life and love and liberty, of tomorrow breathing air

To deceive the Apparatus is to take a deadly dare.

How to abscond from Tracytown without raising a flag?

‘Tis do or die, succeed or cry, champagne or a toe-tag.